Is there anything I should know before going off to college?

Question

Im going off to college in 5 months and i want to know if there are any expectations or anything else i should know b4 going to college?

Answer 1

First off, congrats on what should be one of the most memorable chapters of your life. I'll start out with the basics you may or may not already be aware of.

In college, unlike high school, professors don't care if you attend class or not. They will fail you if need be, and will mark you absent if that's their policy, but for the most part, if you don't show up, they're not going to chase you. Not adviseable though. There's no calling your parents, you're on your own now.

You can schedule your classes when you want. Night classes usually run, I've seen, to like 9pm the latest and commonly cost more to attend. Guidance counselors are now known as "academic advisors" and to be honest with you, they're not very helpful because with all due respect to them, they'll help you pick out a class and give you advice what to take for what you major in, but I've heard lots of horror stories and these advisors are usually very busy people as is since most of them are professors or employed in some other way with the college/university.

It is extremely common for professors to give students their phone number and/or email address if the students ever want to ask them something about the class or to tell the professor that they'll be absent or whatnot. It's adviseable (depending on the leniency of your prof. that you do take advantage of this and inform them if you're going to be late or absent from class).

Now the good stuff.......The social scene will be pretty tempting depending on the size of the school you go to. I'd have a better idea if you told me where you were going. I went to a state school, which was medium sized, not gigantic and my first 2 and a half years were average for parties. I went to lots of them, but they're weren't alot around. Some schools, depending on their size or if they have past baggage with some students will be very strict on alcohol use on campus, so take note. You will see campus cops wherever. A school that prohibits alcohol use on campus is called "dry", and the ones, and there are a lot of them that don't really keep a close eye on it or really even care as long as you're not drinking out in public on school grounds and cause trouble are called "wet campuses".


Also, never travel alone at night, no matter how comfortable you are with your surroundings. Lots of colleges have shuttle vans that you just call and they'll take you from one end of the campus to another and usually one pretty late at night, seven days a week. There are telephone call boxes in many areas designated all over campus, easy to find with a blue or yellow bulb over them so they'll be easy to spot out in case of an emergency.

Adjusting to a new roommate if you're living on campus has it's pros and cons. Go with the flow, if you don't like them, after you've given it a chance, you can request a room change and the student housing staff try to accomodate as many as they can, but they also have lots of students they have to keep track of, so don't take it personally if they take forever to get back to you over any housing issues or concerns with a roommate.

Dorms have RAs, resident assistants, who are supposed to organize activities for the floor you're on and help you out if you're locked out of your room and don't have the key or need to vent to (depending on how personable they are),

Many people at college join fraternitys and sororities and to be honest with you, you can meet just as many people not being in one of those. Don't get me wrong, being in one has it's advantages im sure, but most times you have to pay fees and the initiations and work involved can be very demanding if you want to be doing other things with your time, like playing a sport, or doing ultimate frisbee, something like that.

Lots of nearby restaurants near or on campus grounds usually have discounts specials and stuff, so take advantage of any coupons.

Anyways, good luck to you. Just stay yourself and don't be intimidated by the changes to come.

Answer 2

Rember that you are going for a bright future, and act accordingly.